In Georgia and Alabama, state legislatures have enacted laws on abortion, perhaps teeing up new legal challenges to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade precedent. Meanwhile, in Washington, the House Democrats’ subpoenas to President Trump’s former White House Counsel and to his longtime accountants are sparking debates and litigation over the scope of Congress’s investigative powers and the options for presidential immunity against such investigations. Hoover fellows Richard Epstein and Adam White discuss these political and legal conflicts.

Richard Epstein considers whether Donald Trump has correctly assessed the threat from Chinese trade practices, analyzes whether widespread tariff increases are an effective tool to combat them, and explains why he reluctantly prefers Trump’s economic policies over those that may have emerged from a more conventional Republican president.

It’s a lively session in the faculty lounge as Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo navigate a minefield of legal controversies: what do Alabama’s new restrictions on abortion mean for the future of Roe v. Wade? What’s the proper libertarian position on compulsory vaccinations? Does Congress have a leg to stand on in its pursuit of Bill Barr? Was Harvard wrong to turn its back on a professor who’s defending Harvey Weinstein? And then, the professors finally answer the question you’ve waited years for: are bans on toplessness unconstitutional? We guarantee you’ll leave disturbed.

Richard Epstein breaks down the fight between the Justice Department and the House over the Mueller Report, providing a history of executive privilege (what it is, what it isn’t, and where it came from), an examination of what it really means for Congress to hold someone in contempt, and explains when and under what circumstances the White House can prevent congressional testimony.

As congressional Democrats accuse Attorney General William Barr of deliberate deception and Trump Administration officials refuse to honor congressional subpoenas, the executive and legislative branches find themselves on a collision course.

Hoover fellows Richard Epstein and Adam White discuss the decline of Congress as a constitutional institution, as exemplified by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing with Attorney General Barr—and the House Judiciary Committee’s hearing without him.

The faculty lounge has reopened and Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo are colluding to bring you top-shelf legal analysis. On this installment: is the Mueller Report vindication of President Trump or the predicate for impeachment? Can the White House resist congressional subpoenas? Can congressional Democrats (or a wily coalition of state governments) force the president to release his tax returns? Will the Supreme Court break new ground on gay and trans discrimination? And is chalking tires unconstitutional?

All that plus our annual World Series picks and an especially heated debate on … free parking.

Richard Epstein analyzes a controversial new policy at the Yale Law School that would withhold financial support from students who work with “discriminatory” institutions — a category that may include large numbers of religious organizations.

On the first day of baseball season, Hoover Institution fellows Richard Epstein and Adam White call balls and strikes on the apparent end of the Mueller investigation as detailed in Attorney General Barr’s four-page letter to Congress. They still disagree about Mueller, but they agree that the investigation reached a good conclusion. Will we ever see a full Mueller Report — and should we?

It’s March Madness in the faculty lounge — and with the current news cycle, this episode is a layup line for Professors Epstein and Yoo. On the agenda: a deep dive into the Mueller Report; a look at the legal ramifications of the college admissions scandal; and a discussion of the Jussie Smollett controversy (one of the profs has a disturbingly deep grasp of the details). Plus, Epstein proposes a deal with the Russians, Yoo takes millennials down a peg, and Senik deals out some Jerry Springer trivia.

Senator Elizabeth Warren wants to break up tech companies; former Attorney General Eric Holder wants a future Democratic President and Congress to pack the Court, which would break it. What do Hoover Institution fellows Richard Epstein and Adam White think of these proposals? They disagree with both of them … but they also disagree with one another about how to think about what Google does today. But before they start to debate those issues, they begin by applauding the Senate’s move toward confirming Neomi Rao’s nomination to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

Richard Epstein looks at the resurgent popularity of rent control, explains the factors driving high housing prices in some of America’s largest metropolitan areas, and explains the economic, legal, and regulatory possibilities for bringing costs down.

The newest installment of Law Talk sees debate brewing in the faculty lounge as Professors Richard Epstein and John Yoo find themselves on the opposite side of several issues. On the agenda: Did Michael Cohen’s testimony change anything about the case against Trump? Can the president’s emergency measures to build a border wall stand up in court? Does the Supreme Court’s blow against civil asset forfeiture actually represent a constitutional error? And is a group of states about to take down the electoral college?